Mala'anje
The Mala'anje, also known as the Mala'anashim, are the indigenous population of Cyberia, who were nearly wiped out during Cyberia's early days of colonialism, and eventually relegated to enclaves. The enclaves are essentially reservations, akin to Native American reservations in the United States, in which the Mala'anje could practice their own limited form of government and maintain organized communities. The Mala'anje today are respected for their deep culture and contribution to Cyberian society. History The Mala'anje are a Semitic people that were entering an age of social development equivalent to that of classical Greece and Egypt when the first Cyberian settlers arrived. The first contact between settlers and the Mala'anje occurred in 1598 when Captain Jack Rose landed near present-day Menet seeking food for his shipmates. While on shore he encountered the Aireby Tribe and was brought before Chief Gor'nl. The tribespeople provided Rose with food; enough for his whole expedition to last several months. But Rose, being an adventurer and somewhat dishonest in his intentions, induced Gor'nl to affix his signature to a document essentially granting control over all Cyberia to the settlers - a document neither the Chieftain nor his aides could understand, and mistook for a peace treaty. This would ultimately set the stage for conflict between the Mala'anje and the settlers resulting in the War of Mala two years later. Chief Gor'nl was brother to Chief Jo'nl of the larger Mala Tribe (from whence the name Mala'anje is derived), who ultimately led the Council of Judges, the body which governed the tribes. When it was discovered what the actual contents of the treaty entailed, Jo'nl tried approaching the settlers to declare the document invalid. But with the sheer number of colonists flooding the shores of Cyberia, and the differing locales from whence they came, made enforcing a rebuttal impossible. After two years of unsuccessfully trying to hold the tide of colonization at bay, the frustrated tribespeople launched a war to rid their lands of the foreigners. Alas, they vastly were outgunned by the settlers, advancing upon gunpowder brigades with arrows and spears. The war was a resounding defeat for the Mala'anje, and Chief Jo'nl was killed in the conflict. As a result of the war, immense fatalities were taken by the native population - some analysts suspect as much as fifty-percent of the population was killed - and the remainder was held in vendetta by the settlers to the point where further abuses were acted out upon the tribespeople. In the end, only a tiny fragment of the population remained, and most fled into the rural forests and hills of northern Mala (now Felicia). Etymology and Language The name Mala'anje first entered Cyberian language during the early periods of colonization when most of the tribes were at war with the settlers. As such, Cyberian chroniclers relied almost exclusively on poor translators forced into converting their native tongue to English. The result was an Anglicization of the name Mala'anje from its correct spelling and pronunciation as Mala'eretz. The people themselves are known as Mala'anashim. Because the Mala'anje speak a form of Hebrew which, at the time was utterly alien to the colonists, most translations were poorly done. Mala'eretz is a combination of two words - mala meaning to replenish, and eretz meaning land/country - thus meaning Land of Replenishment. This refers to ancient history when the first Mala'anashim arrived in the region and began to exploit its rich natural resources. The name Mala'anashim is likewise another combination of two words - mala being the same as above, and anashim meaning people - therefore simply meaning Replenished People.